Wilmington Friends School history

As the number of Friends grew a still larger Meeting house became necessary and on September 25, 1817, the present building was opened for worship and the earlier one razed.

With increasing numbers of slaves coming to him, by the late 1830’s he could no longer accommodate everyone and enlisted several local assistants.

In 1848 at the age of 60, he and John Hunn from Middletown were brought to trial for aiding fugitive slaves.

In 1850 the Fugitive Slave Act was passed, intending to deter slaves from attempting to escape as well as anyone who wanted to help them.

By the end of 1857, Garrett had helped a total of 2,152 slaves.

In January 1871, an estimated 1,500 people overflowed the Wilmington Meeting House at Fourth and West Streets awaiting the arrival of several young black men.

WFS became more friendly towards the idea of war, with a Whittier article in 1919 named, “Our Returning Crusaders,” referring to the American troops coming home after WWI. However, these reactions seemed to take a turn for the worse during WWII.

Here Wilmington Friends School had its beginning in 1748 and, with many sprawling additions to the building and a growing enrollment, remained on Quaker Hill in continuous operation until 1937.

Maguire) ever found in the archives was an alumni magazine, featuring a photo of John standing next to his plane, with a lengthy letter to the School Principal, Wilmot Jones, describing life in the South Pacific in 1944.

In 2019, it was announced that the school was consolidating all grades into one building and selling its lower grade school building; grades pre-K to fifth grade.